But the Meyers were captured by the house’s Romantic eclecticism. One of only three Moorish Revival-style dwellings on the island, it features a courtyard, wooden oriel windows, spiral columns, Gothic arches, a minaret-style chimney and a dome over the entrance.

Determined to do an authentic restoration, the Meyers hired architect Richard Sammons. They also asked the town to landmark the house, which it did in March 2018, two months after the Meyers bought it.

RELATED: Palm Beach board: Moorish-style house should be landmarked.

During a recent home tour sponsored by the Palm Beach Preservation Foundation, Susan Meyer said she wanted to work with the Landmarks Preservation Commission, which gained oversight of the restoration once the house was landmarked.

"I willingly landmarked it because I think [preservation] is so important," she said. "The [landmarks] commission has done the research in the designation report, and they champion you all the way. People are afraid they aren’t going to let you make changes. It’s an unfounded fear."

Sammons, who is an architectural commissioner, said most restorations of historic homes in Palm Beach are actually reconstructions, meaning most of the original building materials "end up in a dumpster."

That’s not the case at 137 Seaspray, where, for example, all of the original windows were painstakingly restored by hand.

One big change was necessary. The house had never been air conditioned, she said. Determined to install a central-air system without compromising its historic integrity, the Meyers decided on a "split unit," which she said is easier to hide.

"But it is really tricky to do," she said.

The dwelling is one of 16 landmarked houses on the Midtown street.

Amanda Skier, the preservation foundation’s executive director, said it selected Seaspray Avenue for the Feb.18 walking tour so people could "learn about preservation principles in practice from design professionals."

Homes chosen for the tour demonstrate the flexibility afforded to landmarked properties, she said. At 137 Seaspray, the owner and architect are following traditional preservation practices, including restoring the original, old-growth wood windows, she said.

The builder-driven renovation at 212 Seaspray "indicates how restoration projects can accommodate significant additions and also be financially lucrative," she said.

Finally, the renovation of a bungalow at 322 Seaspray Ave. "illustrates how traditional floor plans can be reworked to accommodate open floor plans and modern amenities," she said.

212 Seaspray Ave.

The 1927 John Volk-designed house at 212 Seaspray Ave. was designated a landmark in 1999. It last changed hands in August 2018 when it was purchased by a limited liability company.

The Mediterranean-style dwelling is distinguished by the cast-stone door surround that rises to the second floor, and by three sets of arched double doors facing the street.

RELATED: Project reinvigorates 1920s landmark on Seaspray Avenue.

The house has been renovated for resale by owner Bobby Goodnough with Patrick Segraves, a member of the Landmarks Preservation Commission, as project architect.

The previous owners air-conditioned the house with window units instead of installing central air. Goodnough retrofitted it with central air, a project that he called an "engineering nightmare."

"The great thing about this house was that it had never been touched and the bad thing about this house was that it had never been touched," he said.

322 Seaspray Ave.

The 1919 bungalow at 322 Seaspray Ave. was designated a landmark in 2013 and purchased by owners Jeanne and David Daniel the following year.

The Daniels hired architect Gene Pandula to design a top-to-bottom renovation and Scott Sloan of Sloan Construction to carry it out.

In 2017, the bungalow won the Preservation Foundation’s Polly Earl Award, which honors historically sensitive renovations at small-scale properties.

RELATED: Seaspray Avenue bungalow re-do wins Polly Earl Award.

Jeanne Daniel said Pandula and Sloan "helped us realize our vision of creating a more livable and contemporary living space."

The characteristic front porch was enclosed to expand interior living space. At the rear, a deteriorated garage that had been converted into a cabana was razed to make way for an addition that houses the master bedroom.

The project stretched over two and a half years as crews uncovered a variety of structural problems that had to be remedied.

All of the windows were replaced with storm-impact glass. Jeanne Daniel said the house was essentially rebuilt from scratch.

"We had to replace all of the rafters — there was a lot of rot," she said. "There is virtually very little from the original."

415 Seaspray Ave.

The tour also included a stroll through an award-winning garden at 415 Seaspray Ave., a 1928 Mediterranean Revival-style home designed in 1928 by E.B. Walton.

Inspiration for the gardens came from the French provincial designs of Nicole de Verian, known for their soft silvery textures, clipped vegetation, lavender and rough stone.

Wong visited nurseries throughout the state for plant material, which he pruned and left in place for months until they were ready for their Seaspray Avenue locale.

Some substitutions were necessary to create a Provence-style garden in Palm Beach’s subtropical climate. He shaped silver buttonwood to resemble olive trees and clipped podocarpus into columns to take the place of Italian cypress. The fragrance of Meyer lemon trees permeates the half-acre lot.

Two obelisks, cut from coral stone in the Dominican Republic, anchor the garden from its north and south edges.

Wong said he didn’t have the space and vistas available to more fully replicate de Verian’s work.